Weighted practice golf club



Jan. 25, 1966 WALLQ WEIGHTED PRACTICE GOLF CLUB Filed Dec. 6, 1962 Edward Wallo INVEN TOR.

Y @DZQLLQQ @zm United States Patent 3,231,2s1 WEIGHTED PRACTICE GOLF CLUB Edward Walla, 6339 NE. 38th Ave, Portland, Oreg. Filed Dec. 6, 1962, Ser. No. 242,700 1 Claim. (63]. 273193) This invention relates to golf clubs, and more particularly to a golf club designed specifically for practice swinging only.

It is common practice in such sports as baseball, for example, for a batter to swing two or more bats just before his time at bat, so that his hitting bat feels quite light by comparison. For the same reason, some golfers practice swinging a modified conventional golf club provided with a half pound or so of additional weight in the head.

Although the swinging of such a weighted golf club may have value for the intended purpose, it leaves much to be desired from the standpoint of achieving a correct swing. The additional weight in the head merely makes the club feel excessively heady and the shaft excessively flexible. The relatively small amount of added weight does not materially restrict the swing, and therefore the feeling of headiness and flexibility is exaggerated still further. Thus, although the practice swinging of this nominal added weight might contribute advantageously to the development of stronger hands and wrists, it contributes adversely to the development of proper coordination of body turn, wrist action and other factors which are equally important in producing the proper swing.

Accordingly, it is the principal object of the present invention to provide a practice golf club constructed in such manner as to provide effective and proper toning and strengthening of the body muscles while simultaneously and automatically guiding the body movements into proper coordination.

Another important object of the present invention is to provide a practice golf club of the class described, which is of simplified construction for economical manufacture.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages of this invention will appear from the following detailed description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawing in which:

FIG. 1 is a plan view of a practice golf club embodying the features of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a foreshortened side elevation of the practice golf club shown in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is a foreshortened sectional view taken along the line 3-3 in FIG. 2.

The practice golf club of the present invention includes an elongated shat provided at one end with an enlarged head 12. In the preferred embodiment illustrated the shaft is made of a length of metal pipe and the head is made of a short length of similar pipe of somewhat larger diameter. One end of the shaft is secured to the wall of the head, centrally of the ends thereof, as by welding.

Alternatively, the head may be provided by means of a T pipe fitting which may be connected to the shaft by interengaging threads, or by welding, as desired.

It will be appreciated that the symmetrical arrangement of the head with respect to the shaft accommodates use of the practice golf club with equal facility by right handed and left handed persons.

The opposite open ends of the head preferably are closed by plugs 14, and the open top end of the shaft is closed by the plug 16. The portion of the head wall surrounded by the shaft may be cut away, as illustrated in FIG. 3, to provide communication between the hollow shaft and head.

ICC

An appropriate length of the outer end of the shaft may be roughened, as by knurling, or may be wrapped or otherwise provided with a suitable hand grip 18.

The overall length of the practice golf club may be varied as desired, it being preferred that the length correspond approximately with the standard length of a long iron or medium wood, for example about 40". However, it is important that the total weight of the club be from three to five times the weight of a standard golf club in order to derive the proper benefit from its use. The standard medium wood club being approximately 14 ounces in total weight, the practice club of this invention therefore should have a total weight of at least about three pounds and preferably not exceeding five pounds.

Moreover, a substantial proportion of this total weight must be distributed substantially uniformly throughout the length of the shaft, with the remainder contained in the head. The shaft should constitute at least and preferably about of the total club weight. This provides the head with suficient weight for proper feel. This weight distribution distinguishes markedly from the weight distribution in a conventional golf club, wherein approximately 75% of the total weight is concentrated in the head and the remainder in the shaft.

The practice golf club of the present invention conveniently may be constructed of iron pipe for the shaft and a T pipe fitting for the head. For example, the shaft may be provided by a length of standard iron pipe having an outside diameter of 1", and the head may be provided by a T pipe fitting having an outside diameter of 1 /2" and a length of 2". The overall length of the assembly being 40", the total weight is about 66 ounces of which about 60 ounces is carried in. the shaft and about 6 ounces is carried in the head.

In the event the shaft and head are made of lighter material, such as aluminum piping, the proper weight may be provided by filling the hollow shaft and head with a material of appropriate density, such as sand, lead, synthetic resin, and the like, as indicated at 2t) inFIG. 3.

In the use of the practice golf club of the present invention, the conventional stance and grip is taken. Be cause of the substantially increased weight of the club, a firmer grip is required for controlling the club. This contributes materially to the strengthening of the hands. Further, the excessive weight forces the back swing to be taken much slower than normal, thereby tending to correct the common fault of a fast and jerky backswing.

As the practice golf club approaches the top of the back swing, its excessive weight assists the proper cocking of the wrists. In this regard the excessive weight of the club resists movement during the backswing and thus forces the use not only of a stronger grip but also of less flexible wrist action, thus contributing to more positive control of the club.

Having reached the top of the backswing, with the wrists properly cocked, commencement of the downswing is again resisted by the excessive weight of the club. This resistance effectively forces the downswing to be initiated by the turning of the body in its proper pivot, rather than by the arms. Further, the excessive weight of the club inhibits premature uncocking of the wrists.

As the practice club swings through the hitting zone, the wrists are caused to uncock properly, and the weight of the club carries the arms outward and upward to a properly extended followthrough.

The foregoing corrections to the swing are made while simultaneously toning and strengthening the muscles by swinging the excessive weight. Since the weight concentrated in the head is but a small fraction of the total weight of the club, there is no feeling of headiness and excessive flexibility in the club to adversely affect the swing. Thus, when the conventional playing club is swung after a practice session with the practice club the only significant difference in feel is that of weight. With continued use or" the practice club, the playing club is controlled more positively and the swing is executed more slowly and smoothly, with correspondingly in creased effectiveness.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications may be made in the details of construction described hereinbefore. For example, the practice club may be constructed from a conventional golf club by appropriate weighting of the shaft and head so as to provide from three to five pounds total weight with at least 75% of the Weight distributed through the shaft. These and other modifications may be made, as desired, without departing from the spirit of this invention and the scope of the appended claim.

Having now described my invention and the manner in which it may be used, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

A practice golf club comprising: (a) an elongated shaft,

10 (e) the total Weight of the practice golf club being from about three to about five pounds, and the shaft thereof constituting about seventy-five to ninety percent of said total weight, the overall length of such club corresponding to that of a standard full 15 swing golf club,

References (Iited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS 0 875,273 12/1967 Kimble.

1,676,270 7/1928 Mattison 273-162 2,447,218 8/ 1948 Trzesniewski 27284 DELBERT B. LGWE, Primary Examiner. 

